Paid Sick Leave, Paid Family Leave Hearing

The Labor Committee will hold a public hearing on Thursday, March 5, on two mandate bills of concern to the business community.

HB 6784 would vastly expand the paid sick leave mandate that currently applies to non-manufacturing businesses with 50 or more employees.

The bill would expand the mandate to include businesses with 10 or more employees, and would require that all hourly employees be provided with seven paid sick days each year.

It also expands the permitted uses for paid sick leave to include caring for extended family members. 

HB 6932 would create a paid family and medical leave program in the state.

The new mandate would apply to businesses with two or more employees, and allow individuals to take up to 12 weeks of paid leave each year, at 100% of their pay, to care for a family member's, or their own illness or injury.

The program would be funded by a mandatory employee payroll deduction, but given the massive infrastructure and personnel needs to run this program, could also have serious financial implications on taxpayers as a whole.

A similar program in Washington State was estimated to cost $1.2 billion per biennium. 

For more information, contact CBIA’s Eric Gjede at 860.244.1931 | eric.gjede@cbia.com | @egjede